Sleeping
by drinkingteawithhellhounds
Summary: OneShot: "...Dick had grown accustomed to the breathing patterns of someone when they were asleep and when they were not, and at that precise moment, Barbara Gordon most most definitely not asleep." DickXBabs


Sleeping

People breathe differently when they're asleep, although it wasn't something Dick had particularly noticed before he started sleeping with someone.

So yes, Dick had grown accustomed to the breathing patterns of someone when they were sleeping and when they were not, and at that precise moment, Barbara Gordon was most definitely not asleep. She was, however, doing an excellent job at pretending, and allowed her a few more seconds feigned rest before gently running a finger down the back of her exposed neck.

One thing about Barbara Gordon that may, or may not, be useful to know is that she's ticklish.

Proof of this was presented half a second later, when the red-headed woman squirmed slightly and let out an ill-disguised gasp of laughter.

"Dick!"

Dick pouted behind her back and muttered something along the lines of; "X amount of insults in the world and you go for my name?"

At the quip Barbara drove her elbow backwards into Dick's stomach, forcing his lungs to expel the breath they had just taken in. The air hit Barbara square on the back of the neck, right where she was most ticklish, in retrospect, elbowing the man in the bed behind her probably wasn't the best idea.  
She turned under the sheets so she was lying on her other side, facing him and yanking his half of the duvet away in the process. Dick pouted again- that face really was adorable- and attempted to lift his head off his pillow, but decided he was too tired and went limp again shortly after.

"You're mean." He complained, in that whiny, baby-like tone he only got when he'd pulled triple shift for BPD and pulled an all-nighter for the team three days in a row. It was a tone that both annoyed the hell out of Barbara but also melted her heart when she realised how hard he'd been working.

"Of course I'm mean." She replied, "You just woke me up, by ticking me!"

"You weren't asleep."

...well, darn, he'd noticed.

"'You ever hear of trying to sleep, birdbrain? Or do you always run yourself so far into the ground that you could reach the Bat Cave?"

Dick almost smiled, apparently he was more tired than either of them thought, "The other thing. The second one." He stifled a yawn. "Someone's gotta keep things running."

Barbara frowned, "You do have friends, y'know, a team, the league, me. You ever hear of sharing?"

Dick frowned too, in mild concentration; "Uh, no, only child for fifteen years, remember?"

Barbara rolled her eyes and gave him a corner of the blanket. He took it, grateful for the warmth, and rolled completely under it- gradually stealing space until they were right next to each other. Dick looped his arms around her and hugged her close.

On any other night Barbara would have punched him, made a quip about her dad killing him- he would have grinned and said Batman would save him.

Tonight neither of them spoke, Barbara simply returned the gesture, knowing how livid his memories of Mount Justice and Cape Canaveral were, and knowing full well that right now all he needed was some assurance that he wasn't about to lose anyone else. They stayed like that for the rest of the night, Dick fell asleep around two, Barbara stayed awake for another hour, then another, listening to Dick's steady breathing and feeling his heartbeat against her shoulder through their t-shirts.

Eventually she fell asleep too, and when the weak sunlight filtering through the curtains woke her the next morning, he was still there, still asleep.

Barbara let herself doze, Dick's arms still wrapped around her, trying not to look at the harsh burn that formed a loop around Dick's throat.

A remnant of the fight that cost the team their home.

Barbara tried not to look, and she tried not to break the peace of the moment by thinking of ways to make Kaldur pay for what he had done.

Make no mistake, he would definitely pay, but not today- today was for healing, getting back to their feet and mourning their losses.

Today was not for revenge.

* * *

**AN: Wow... that wasn't the ending I had in mind.**

**This is set sometime after 'Darkest', probably the night after (SPOILERS) Dick had his argument with Wally. I haven't got an exact time in mind, but at this point they haven't rescued La'Gaan, Bart, Jaime, Gar and the others. (SPOILERS OVER).**

**I think the main point of me writing this was my need for a bit of Batgirl, because we haven't seen her in ages.**


End file.
